Aaaachooooo!

There has been a lot of sneezing at our house. And itchy noses. And stuffy noses. And itchy eyes. Jacob looks horrible. His eyes are swollen that I don't think he can open them fully. He's got bags under his eyes. I'll have to post a picture when our main computer is back up and running. He looks like a different boy.

I talked to the pharmacist and we switched from Claritin to Children's Zyrtec and I got him some antihistamine eye drops AND Sudafed AND benadryl. His sinuses are stuffy he cannot breathe out of his nose well and he keeps sniffling - constantly. Its really annoying. Scott told him that Mrs. Micheel would not like him to do that at school because its disturbing others. So Jacob is willingly taking medicine.

Jacob and Scott and Grandpa Callaway went to the hunting lands today and did whatever they do at hunting lands. I played outside with the kids for a little while and then we came inside and I got out these different shaped and colored blocks. Interest lasted for a short period of time. When nap time came around, Brooke took a supershort nap, John didn't nap at all and Matthew took a nice long nap. So John and Brooke went to bed at 7:30 p.m. and there was not a peep out of them. Matthew went to bed at 8 p.m. because I wanted to get a jumpstart on sewing.

I'm making a baby blanket for my step-niece who is having a baby in 3 weeks. I probably should get it done just in case the baby is early. And now I'm making burp cloths in different colors and textures to give as gifts and maybe make a few bucks on etsy or some event.

Scott has been filling cracks. Doesn't that sound funny? He's been filling blacktop and cement cracks as he's going to resurface the blacktop tomorrow. So the babies can't go out in the front yard for the whole day. Backyard only. We filled up the pool tonight and all four played in the water for quite awhile until you could see visable shaking on the younger ones, so we went in for a bath.

Happy Labor Day. Whatever that means.

Eyes wide open

I went to Walmart tonight at 10:00 p.m. after Scott got home from fishing to get some different allergy medicine for Jacob. Allergies are kicking his butt. His eyes are always itching, his nose is itchy and he's sneezing. Claritin isn't working so we're trying Children's Zyrtec. And the pharmacist recommended some eye drops. Good luck to me to get those babies in his eyes.

So I'm there shopping and I cannot believe how many people have their little, LITTLE children there with them. I probably saw five or six families with children three and under out shopping. I realize some families work the second shift and may adjust their schedule accordingly. But these little ones and even the school age children have to get up for school. Lack of sleep is devastating for children for learning and even their behavior.

O.K. its not so easy

Well, last night Brooke cried a lot and I ended up rocking her in fear of her waking Jacob up. I think if she would have had her Nuk, she would have just went right back to sleep. She got up at 6:15. Matthew, who normally sleeps late, got up at 5:50. I don't know what 5:50 looks like anymore. That is about 1 1/2 hours too early for me. Good ole' John woke up at 7:15 and asked for his Nuk. But at least he slept through the whole night.

The Nuks will soon be safely tucked into the babies memories boxes and not looked at again until they are much older. Goodbye Nuks. You've gotten me through some tough situations. You have pacified my children and kept them quiet. You have satisfied their need to suck and their oral fixations. But its time to go. May you work as well for another family and that family takes away Nuks much sooner than I did.

Bathtime idiosyncrasies

Well, its day II of no more NUKs. Brooke took a shortened nap today so I put her to bed first. She was standing up and crying. I put the boys to bed and she was still crying. I read a book to Jacob and she was still crying. Soooo, I got her up and cuddled with her for 15 minutes. She was wide-awake and poking at my face. And now I hear her talking in her bedroom and Jacob is sleeping, or trying to sleep, in the bunk beds not one foot from her bed.

John didn't make a peep after I put him to bed. He looked for his NUKs and I told him that the NUKs were all gone and I can't believe he didn't throw a little bit of a fit. Not even a little itsy bitsy bit.

I worked at the Y today, not on the membership desk, but at the scanning desk. On my feet for five hours. I'm not used to that, so my feet were pretty sore, and it was the friday before a holiday so it was not busy.

I get home and the kids need a bath since I think they rolled in sidewalk chalk. The evolution of bathtime has changed a bit since they were first put in the tub at 10 months. They were bathed together, they had pooping issues in the tub, so they got separate baths due to pooping and standing up in the bathtub issues, their baths were 2.5 minutes long. Next phase, baths together again that lasted a little bit longer. I leave the water running just a little bit so they can fill their cups up and pour water over each other. Matthew likes to pour water from cup to cup and really likes to splash water at me. Brooke likes to stand up and jump. This gets her taken out of the tub. She also likes to splash, throw things and pour water over her brothers heads. John likes to lay down in the tub, splash water at me and sit by the faucet and watch the water come out. He also likes to pour water over the others heads. He also likes to touch the other babies butts and say "poop" and giggle.

No one likes to get out of the tub and this is usually a struggle. And then they try to run out of the bathroom, but usually end up slipping because of all the water on the floor because of the splashing.

Is it a one-man job? Yes. But I close off all the doors upstairs and open the gate so they go downstairs and don't get into trouble. I don't want them touching the toilet or garbage in the bathroom so I send them out. I wonder why toilets are a magnet for children?

Shell Dinter and I took the kids to the New Zoo today. We had a really good time. We got to feed the giraffes these crackers. Brooke was a little scared of the giraffes, but Jacob, Matthew and John gave the giraffes crackers. We saw, little lion cubs that are a month old, bears, bison, Japanese Macaque monkeys, moose, snakes, praire dogs, other children.

Then we stopped at Old McDonalds and got about 20 chicken McNuggets which no one ate. But they love french fries. Its one of the words that Matthew can say quite distinctly.

I did it!

The last time Brooke and John used their Nuks was for todays afternoon nap. I told them when they got up that the Nuks were going bye-bye and they were all gone. I have this book that was in the $ bin at Target called Bye-Bye Pacifier and read it to them several times. Scott put them to bed and John cried for a real short period of time. Brooke didn't cry at all. I hope tonight goes well.

I kept procrastinating because it was easier for me to let them keep the Nuks because it kept them quiet. Also the Speech and Occupational Therapists told me to wait until John was awhile into his therapies before taking it away. So I can blame it on them too.

John has other age-appropriate teething or mouthing toys for his oral fixations.

Jacob doesn't have school tomorrow so all the kids, Shell Dinter and I are taking them to the New Zoo in Suamico. I hope they enjoy it. Matthew really cared less when we were at the Milwaukee zoo, but I'm hopeful that he'll show some interest.

Its been hard on me getting up earlier and getting Jacob ready for school. Its emotionally hard when your oldest is going to kindergarten and you realize that someone else is taking care of them for those few hours. And also because he still cries as I try to leave the room.

Kabooooommmm!

Here's a quick rundown of my day.

Took Jacob to school.
Jacob was fine until he realized I wasn't going to stay.
There were tears and hugs.
I left to go to chapel.
He sat by the rest of the kindergartners and was fine.
Came home, John fell off his chair onto sharp rocks.
Cut his head open.
He was ready to go home at 11:30 a.m.
We ate at McDonalds.
I discovered that the economy has finally hit a new low.
The Big Mac only has one piece of cheese on now. (I think the last time I had it, which was last year, had two slices)
Jacob went to the bathroom twice and left his stall door open.
Woman came in and saw him peeing.
Came home and then went to store to get liquid band aid.
Came home and put liquid band aid on.
Cut hair around gash on back of the head.
Put kids to bed.
Started making barrettes.
Child wakes up.
Has a messy diaper.
Doesn't go back to bed.
Wants my hot glue gun.
Mom sadly stops making barrettes.
Shell Dinter arrives.
She brings food.
We eat food outside.
Other two babies get up.
Jacob plays basketball.
Babies want to go back inside.
We go back inside.
Mom goes to Uppercase Living party and has a good time.
Mom comes home to find out that she caused the main computer to breakdown.
Mom opened an e-mail that said, "you have an e-card."
Mom didn't know that it was a virus.
She didn't know it was a really, really bad one.
Friend that fixes computers is gone for a whole week.
Poor computer.
Poor momma, she really should read her e-mails.

The next phase

We all go through phases of our lives. Jacob is onto his next one. Kindergarten. (real big sigh by mom)



I'm excited for him because he'll learn more in an environment with other children his age. He'll forge life-long friendships, learn things that I don't have the time or patience to teach him, he'll learn about Jesus from someone else (who probably has heard all the 5 year old questions about Jesus and knows the answer), he'll learn honesty, respect, responsibility.



But now he belongs to someone else for 1/2 of the day. At least its only 1/2 days. I can't imagine when he goes to school and I only see him for a little while in the morning and then for a few hours in the evening.



He is still apprehensive about school. But I e-mailed his teacher and she said that everyone is their first day. Tonight we talked about what would happen tomorrow and he seemed to accept it and didn't tell me he didn't want to go to school. It just breaks my heart when he says this. Its a heavy burden on me because I don't know what to do to help him. As a mother, we want to be able to fix our children's problems, but I can't fix this one. I can only be his soft shoulder to lean on.



He's a leader at home, but I don't think he's found his role in school. I've enrolled him in Soccer and he'll be in basketball this winter through the Y and I hope that sports can help bridge the gap in the communications between him and his classmates. He just sits back and watches and if they ask him to play he just says No. He talks about his classmates all the time so I don't understand whats stopping him from playing with them.



I have learned that I don't think he wants to make a mistake or do something wrong. He's very hard on himself if he draws something wrong or he doesn't make a basket.



It will be an interesting year.



Now, it seems like I always talk about how hectic it is having triplets.



Here are some positives.

Two year old triplets can somewhat dress and undress themselves. They can also walk from the house to the car without being carried. They have instant playmates. They are socially above other toddlers. They learn to share at a younger age. I LOVE having all three sitting on my lap. It feels so right having all of them snuggling into me. The other day as I left to run an errand, I got three great kisses from each baby. I love hearing "Mama" in unison. They sleep through the night and take nice naps.



So for all of you who have been told, "Just wait, it gets worse." Its really how you look at things. The fact that I get a night of sleep uninterrupted does wonders for the body and mind.



I think the hardest things are teaching them safety and being consistent with the discipline. And keeping diapers on.

We get what we git and don't throw a fit!

I'm at 260. Not my weight. Not my IQ (but really close), but my number of Blogs.

We've been playing a lot outside. Scott got down the basketball hoop and Jacobs been practicing a lot. So has Brooke and Matthew when they are out.

Side walk chalk is very popular and my budding artist made me a flower garden in the driveway. He has already surpassed my skills as an artist. Its so sad I'm artistically challenged when it comes to drawing.

Yesterday a couple of big things happened. First, I found a caterpillar in the garage making its way to a tree. So I showed the kids and we put it in a container with a few holes in it so we could watch it turn into a butterfly. We gave it maple leaves, a couple twigs and grass and a little water. So today I checked on the caterpillar and it had started building a cocoon already. Or according to Miss Spider's Sunnypatch kids, a chrysalis.

It was really neat going out to the garage and looking at the caterpillar inside its silk spun cocoon working. It also creeps me out because they are wormy and they slither and they have that big black eye or face that is scary. So, I looked up my yellow caterpillar thinking it would turn into some beautiful butterfly. I was a little disappointed that it was going to turn into a moth. But that's because I have phobias about moths. This is one of those good life lessons that you expect one thing and get another and just have to roll with it.


The other big thing in the Callaway household is that Brooke has been moved to her own room. And she has a roommate. Jacob decided to sleep in the bunk beds in her room.

I was not going to separate the kids until they wanted to be separated. However, this past week has been frustrating with the lack of napping and the surplus of messing around.

Since the cribs were so close together, they'd unzip each others crib tent. Throw blankets at each other. Toss other objects out of their cribs. Undress, take off diapers, and jump around.

Now, Matthew is at one side of the room and John is in the other corner. The last two days have been great napping days so I'm guessing that this may work. Or the lack of sleep is catching up with them and they needed really long naps.

Brotherly love

Can two brothers get any closer than this?
See, John is a happy aggressive child. Its the sensory issues.
Jacob is really a great big brother. He's so motherly to the babies.
Four monkeys on a slide. And of course Matthew with his milk and raggie.
This was after hair cut day. Not for Brooke, just for the boys.

Is parenting at a new low?

On Yahoo news tonight there was an article about a recent poll parents were given. Its seems that parents worse fear for their children is violence in games - X-box, Wii, those kind of games.



Now I realize that many kids have these systems, but I cannot believe that drugs, drinking, peer pressure, sexual abuse, etc.. does not come in above this.



I can control what happens in our home (well, to a certain extent). If my children don't have the "M" rated for Mature games and they have friends that do have those games... how about talking with their parents and letting them know that those games are off limits when your children are over? Or how about not letting them go over to their houses if they don't listen?



Maybe I don't realize what I'm in for because my oldest is just entering kindergarten, but my son doesn't walk around with a Gameboy in his hands at every social event or outing.



My worst fear as a parent right now are predators. I still think my worst fear when they are 12, 14 or 16 will still be predators. Maybe its because Scott's a cop and he sees the other side of society. The monsters who lurk or like to "look" or "watch" children.



I'm in the middle (o.k. I'm on page 12) of Protecting the Gift, How to keep our children and teenagers safe.



Off my pedestal... I was just cruising through the world of blogs and I like to read this one occasionally. This post is so compelling and heartfelt... its about the "r" word. The word that society throws around as slang, as another term for those with Downs Syndrome.

A river of blue

Well, the monkeys have stopped using their cribs as trampolines and may just be laying down for a long winters nap.

Right before their nap they were given blue yogurt push ups (by Jacob). This is the second time that they have had them. But usually, I put on a bib and help them with pushing the yogurt up. I went into the kitchen to watch TV and they were in the living room, which I cannot see from the kitchen. I checked on them and helped them a few times.

Well, I most have gotten engrossed in what was happening in Landview and the next thing I knew, John was using his yogurt stick as a sprinkler in the foyer. And then he must have liked the feeling under his feet because he walked all over it. He's a very hands-on kind of kid.

So I wash him off in the sink and yelled (I raised my voice) for the kids to stay out of the mess. I dry off John and get a towel to clean it up and Brooke jumps on my back thinking I was a pony.

It was quite a funny sight. The joys of 2 year olds. It knows no end.

Jacob was really excited all day for the FVMOM annual picnic. He thought we'd be sitting on a blanket eating food, but instead we sat at a picnic table. Very disappointing for a 5 year old.

This morning we went to the mall. We stopped at a store for under 10 minutes and the kids were not happy to be strapped in the stroller. John and Brooke made it known that they did not want to be in the stroller. But things went much better after that.

We also ate at the mall and the kids sat on those miniature tables made for little ones. I actually got to eat my meal in relative peace. They all sat for at least five minutes before wanting to get up and go to the play area.

Then when we got to the play area, I never lost one once! I plunked my chair right at the entrance of the play area and watched the kids. John and Matthew got hungry and crawled up into their seats in the stroller and finished off the happy meal.

Then we got home and Jacob and I made cupcakes when the babies were sleeping and we did a little "crafting". He glued some buttons on felt and I made barrettes. Its nice that he likes to do that with me.

The pictures are from a couple of days ago when Brooke really took off and started peddling on her own. She really didn't want her picture taken (and it shows), but they are classic Brooke - I've lost my patience poses.

2020 Balance beam champion

Did everyone see the awesome match between May - Walsh and China? Wow. I am so impressed at the dominance that those two have over everyone else. Winning 108 matches in a row? How awesome.

Jacob told me tonight that he'd like to try the balance beam. I told him that usually only the girls do balance beam in the Olympics. And he told me that I was wrong and it was a boy on balance beam.

We start school in less than a week. I'm sad that I don't get to sleep in anymore for the next 14 years of my life. Actually this probably bothers me more than Jacob going off to school. Thats how much sleeping in means to me. I'll have to get him to school by 7:45/7:50 and then come home so Scott can go to work.

We should probably be putting him to bed earlier, but its hard with the Olympics on.

Go away NUKs

I'm really serious this time. I think I'm really, REALLY, going to take away the NUKS this time. I've been making excuses. I want it to be easy and not really painful for me or them (I guess). O.K. I really don't want to hear the whining and crying. But interestingly enough, they don't wake up at night as much as they used to looking for their NUKS. So I think they use them to fall asleep and then when they wake up in the morning.

They all have slight colds right now. Or it could be allergies since Scott, Jacob and I are getting our behinds kicked by the itchy, runny stuff.

I'm debating on having a talk with them (Brooke and John) and having them throw their NUKS away themselves or just cutting the tips off and letting them have them. Maybe I'm making a big deal out of this and it won't be. But John is very attached to his NUK and I think I'm going to rock his world. Its like taking away his right hand. I think Brooke is ready to give it up, but I haven't pushed it since John still has his.

Today was a really nice cool and breezy day outside. Cool is relative, I guess. It was in the 70s and not humid and in the 80s. Brooke really is practicing her peddling on her tricycle. Its just amazing watching her peddle around because Jacob didn't do that until he was 4. And the other two boys really don't get the going around in circles with their legs. Its just another sign of independence.

Metallica Letdown

I know that there are probably more important things in the world to some people or even more interesting things. Just remember to nod your head politely like I do when someone talks about country music to me.

I've been a fan faithful of Metallica since 1990. I have liked every single one of their albums and for the most part almost every single one of their songs...until now.

Metallica came out with a new album, Death Magnetic (I think its called) and the first new single is called "The Day that never comes".

The first time I heard it, I waited for the build up, the good part, the part that had me tapping my hands on the steering wheels and humming along. Didn't happen.

The second time I listened again and it reminded me of "Low Man's Lyric" that it was really mellow, but never hooked me.

I'm not sure I'll even buy this album. O.K. CD, whatever.

This is really a crossroads for me since Metallica is one of my all-time favorite bands.

I saw that they'll be at the Bradley Center in January this year and I'd love to go and see them, but I'm sure Scott won't want to go with me. They usually do a great job of playing two or three songs from every album they have made. The only way I can get Scott to go is if Korn or Godsmack is touring with them.

Today in the car, "Seek and Destroy" was playing. That's one of Metallicas earlier songs. I always tell Jacob what group sings the song on the radio. I feel this is an extra education that will really mean something in 5 to 10 years. And to balance this education out, I occasionally will turn on the classical channel on cable and let him hear Bach, Mozart, etc... (I really do)

So getting back to what I meant to say. I told Jacob that this was Metallica playing on the radio. And he looked around and said, "We're in Metallica?" Like it was a town. I said, "No, they are the ones who sing this song. Just like Laurie Berkner since some of your favorite songs." And then he understood. He also started banging his head and growling. He really got into the spirit of the song. Then he asked me what they were saying and I realized that the lyrics really weren't meant for a 5 year old. They were not swearing or anything, but its kind of dark and deep.

And did you know that there are Metallica Lullabyes out for sale? check out www.rockabyebabymusic.com

Septuplets?

I cannot believe that this Egyptian woman carried seven children to her eight month of pregnancy AND they weighed between 3 to 6 lbs. My kids were 13 pounds total!

I'm glad that it seems that they are all healthy, but this woman already had three children and was 27. She took fertility drugs because she had three girls and wanted to conceive a boy.

That doesn't seem like that is the right reason for taking fertility drugs. I'm hoping that the doctors who prescribe these drugs do so because the patient has not conceived after awhile of trying.

Maybe the papers or news are spinning it their own way to make it more sellable.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080816/ap_on_re_mi_ea/egypt_septuplets

Party! Party!

I'm really addicted to making stuff out of felt. Its fun to see what I can create and then what actually turns out.

I'm trying to match some Gymboree lines and I think my flowers/muffin tops turned out well. I probably should be doing something else, like the two loads of laundry that are sitting right next to me, almost touching my toes.


Jacob made his own felt creations too. He was proud of his work and wants me to put a barrette behind them so Brooke could wear them.



Today, it was Karly's party to celebrate her end of chemo and radiation. The party was awesome. They had balloons and banners and Karly/Michelle made a bead necklace that symbolized all of her chemo treatments, transfusions, pokes and prods, radiation treatments, etc... It was a great way to keep track of everything and just makes me so proud of Karly for all she's been through.



My friend, Jill, came with me and the four kids. Her kids were napping so I was glad for the company. We sat outside in the pavilion and met a lot of kids and people with familiar faces from Michelle's blog. It was nice for everyone to come together to celebrate. The kids enjoyed the puppy chow (or whatever you call nuts, M&Ms, chex mix) and it was chocolate flavored. Then they all had a piece of cake. So between the chocolate stuff and the cake, their fingers, their nails and their mouths were stained a nice brown and blue.



I knew it was time to leave when they all started to run around (with Jacob leading the way) outside the pavilion. I really should have eyes in the back of my head sometimes. Its so enduring though to see them all running around chasing each other and just being siblings. I don't know how other people felt about it, but I thought it was cute, well, until they ran out into the parking lot.



So we leave at 2:30 and we get home at 3:00 p.m. This is clearly outsides of the boundaries of our nap times. I put all of them down and they are still wound up. I go in a few minutes later and Matthew has a dirty diaper. Brooke surprising is still jumping up and down in her crib. So still awhile later I hear talking and bumping and noises. I go up again and Brooke is sleeping along with John. Matthew had thrown all his raggies out and was crying. So I tell him its nap time and lay him down again. So, its now after 4 p.m. and he's still whining and crying. The next time I check on him, it seems he's whining in his sleep. And Brooke woke up so I just got her up and laid down with her. Matthew doesn't stop whining in his sleep and it gets louder. So I put Brooke down, who was cute and cuddly sleepy. Matthew and I rock for awhile, but he wants to watch Max and Ruby and not sleep.



This is just a reminder of what I always knew. DON'T MESS YOUR WITH YOUR KIDS NAP TIMES. They get up grumpy and stay that way. Or they are so overtired they can't sleep.



I'm still faithfully taping the Olympics. My favorite events to watch are the beach volleyball, swimming, and gymnastics. Least favorite, probably synchronized mens diving, and any long distance running or cycling events.

Parenting for dummies

I'm not doing so hot with posting every day. Its because either it was user error or the laptop wasn't cooperating with the router. I would like to think it was the router.

I read a report the other day that the oldest children in a family tend to have higher IQs and attend better colleges or something like that.

I'm beginning to see in our own family that being the oldest child isn't always easy. For either us parents or the child. I think I tend to be tougher on Jacob and expect him to set an example for the babies. But on the other hand, I had more time with him, spent more time teaching the ABC's, counting, did everything by the textbook. (Until the babies came, that is.)

Tonight, Jacob wasn't listening to Scott and I. He was intent on doing his own thing. Finally, Scott put a marble in the sad jar and then Jacob got up off the couch to help us. Sometimes, I just want to ignore him ignore me. The "Pick your battles" thing that's in all those parenting books.
But with him being the oldest, there are three pairs of eyes on him and what he does. If I don't make him listen to me the first time I ask him to do something, the other kids will know that they can wait until mom asks three or four times.

I know if I don't make him listen and respect me now, it will only get worse.

And then this week when my mom was over. My nephew Sam and Jacob were goofing around. Mom said something to them and then Jacob and Sam were whispering to each other and then Jacob said, "I hate Grandma" out loud. So my mom could hear.
This devastated my mom. I got home a few minutes later and made Jacob apologize and give Grandma a hug. Then we had a talk about hurtful words. I put a marble in his sad jar, but I knew that something else should happen. He probably should have gotten 20 marbles in sad jar and be grounded from fishing, the boat and some of the toys he likes.
Actually if I would have been there I would have washed out his mouth with (liquid) soap. I remember that being a good deterrent growing up.

Parenting is hard. Parenting is only going to get harder. I know that God will give me the tools I need to raise thoughtful, loving, Christian children.

Hot air balloon pics

Here's the lowdown on the ruckus the triplets have caused.

Saturday - Triple paste was found in the hands of one triplet and in the hair of the other two.

Sunday - One triplet went exploring and a board fell on his toe. Blood. While triplet mom was fixing his toe, other two triplets were drawing with chalk in the minivan.

Monday - One exploring triplet took his ride-on toy next to the cupboards in the kitchen and used it as a stool to get triplet mom's margarita which he spilled everywhere.

Tuesday - Would Tuesday be any better?

Triplet dad was watching the kids and triplet baby in diaper was digging out pieces of excrement. Triplet dad and triplet mom cleaned up floor and triplet baby.

Children are really no different than animals. Really.

My hats off to Katie. My niece is 9 and she really helps out with the kids. She dresses them, she can change them, she can get them to mind. She's a mini-mom. I wish she could be with me everyday.

I love my...

MTV? No. VW Bug? Nope. cat? Well, yes, but that's not what I'm getting at.

I love my DVR. My TIVO for all of you non Time-Warner Cable people.

I have "Tivoed" every part of the Olympics and then will fast forward to the parts I like to watch.

The spirit of the Olympics is just contagious. Its really eye opening to see a different culture than ours and I hope that this huge event brings some fortune to the Chinese in the human-rights arena. I personally was disgusted by the stories of the now homeless thousands of Chinese whose homes/apartments were destroyed to build the Olympic grounds. And the air quality is worse than Kaukana. I can't imagine the life expectancy of those who regularly breathe that air.

On to the hooligan reports.

Saturday I went out for a little while. Scott was on the "kid" watch. He walked out of the room for a couple minutes and came back to John, who had the Triple Paste cover off the jar. Anyone know what Triple Paste is? Bueller? Bueller?

Its a butt paste. Its got zinc oxide in it. I'm not sure what the "Triple" means. Does it mean Triple trouble? Triplet beware? Triple the fun? It protects butt, bottom and scalp?

That's what John thought. He was busy massaging Triple paste into Brooke's and Matthew's hair. After numerous hair washings by Scott, Brooke's hair still looked a little clumped.

When Scott told me this story, the first thing I asked was, "Did you take any pictures?" I mean, its one thing to write about it, but to SEE it is way good. Nope, he didn't grab the camera.

Next day, Sunday, the day of rest. I need to have a convo with God about this because children were not programmed for the day of rest. So obviously there needs to be a ratification of that law when you have children. Maybe after the sun goes down on the seventh day? I digress.

So, on Sunday the kids were using the sidewalk chalk. John walks into the garage and a board fell on the tip of his toe and immediately the toe squirts out blood. Eew.
So I pick him up and tell Jacob to watch the other babies because I was the only one home and we were in the front yard. So dripping blood throughout the house I grab a towel and put it on Johns toe. We head upstairs to the first aid section of the bathroom. I grab triple antibiotic ointment (there is that word again) and some Dora band aids. We go outside and I tell Jacob again to watch the babies. I sit John on my lap and proceed to clean, sanitize and bandage. After deep concentration with wiggling toddler, I notice after a few minutes that its quiet and the other two are not visible.
I go to the van which they like to play in. Matthew was sitting in the drivers seat while Brooke was watching and was "drawing" with sidewalk chalk all over the drivers seat, door, wheel, dashboard...

At this point, I think I swore. I'm pretty sure it was out loud too.

Then Monday, I was chasing everyone around the main level brushing their teeth. Matthew goes his own way after getting his teeth brushed and he pushed a ride-on toy up to the counter and spilled my margarita. I grabbed him and started cleaning him off and then Scott came in and cleaned up the rest. He spilled my margarita. That is totally worth spanking. But instead I just took him upstairs, got on different PJ's and put him to bed. We had a "talk" where I tried looking him in the eyes and he was jabbering and looking everywhere else. I told him he would not be doing that again or he'll be going in his crib.

** No children were harmed by their mother in the making of this blog. Names, situations and places are sometimes changed to protect the innocent. The mother reserves the privilege to revoke or suspend rights of her children.

Balloon drop

Tonight, Scott and I took the family to Balloonfest in a nearby town. We got there at 5:30 as the hot air balloons were SUPPOSED to take off at 6:00 p.m. There usually is 20 some balloons that participate in this. So we sat and sat and waited. It was too windy for them to take off, but they had their balloons all laid out and ready to be blown up.

6:00 came and went. 7:00 came and went. The kids were good for the first hour, eating and drinking, not straying from us.

But then they started circling us, salivating and growling. I took them for a walk in the triple stroller with Jacob. Every single person we passed had to comment about that stroller. Or the kids, or that I have twins. Or are they all mine? Sigh. Sigh. I'd like to be an ambassador for mothers. I'd like to be a witness for Christ. But really. Every single time we get the dumbest comments. When fat people walk by, people don't comment out loud. Why am I open season?

I think it has to do with Jon & Kate plus 8. Every time someone comes up to me, they ask me if I've seen that show... Jon & Katie and I interrupt and say plus 8. I nod my head yes and tell them I'm glad I only have 1/2 the kids. Love the show, but there is only so much alcohol and calming drugs that I can take.

So I regress. We heard the announcement or cheers that a balloon was going up. So we rushed back to our seats. And we saw the balloon go up. Then everyone started blowing their balloons up (whatever its called) and we waited and waited. Probably for a 1/2 hour. Well, I guess we missed the announcement that they were just doing the "glow" and not going up.

So we left after our kids bedtime and they went to bed without a peep. On the way home Jacob sang them lullabyes. It was one of those sweet moments I'll have to remember when he's 15.

My next t-shirt that I'm going to get made up is, "I can hear what you say about me and my children."

Brett Favre 4ever!

How many of you are sick of this whole Brett Favre thing? You Jets fans have just gotten a very passionate and fun-loving quarterback. Congratulations.

I totally understand from the business standpoint that if you retire/quit and after a few months want your job back, you can't because they replaced you.
From a fan standpoint, I just want to see Brett Favre play. He's got an arm like few have seen. Ask many of his receivers that have broken their fingers. He pulls out plays that few can. I love that he can throw on his off foot.
I'm glad this is over with. Now General Hospital will not be pre-empted with announcements.

And for all of you that have bones to pick. LET THEM GO! Its out of our control, its been done and we should be worrying about more pressing things, the 2008 election, the new scoring system in Olympic gymnastics or even that McDonalds is taking items off the $1.00 menu due to costs.

Tonight, I went to the Melting Pot, which is a fondue restaurant in this area. I think we only have one in this area. For the Fox Valley, its an expensive restaurant with meals for 2 costing over $100 on average. They have ladies night for $15 and that's without an entree. So, that's pretty cheap compared to the regular meal. Well, I personally walked away hungry. I had cheese and bread, a salad and then chocolate covered stuff. They may serve the proper portion of foods, but I'm used to super-sizing my meals.
And the waitress was absent from our table. I had an empty soda glass for over an hour before it was refilled. And of course the tip was put in the bill already because we had a party over 8.

John has found a new skill. He loves to take off his diaper after he wets or poops in it. How nice. I'm not naive to thing that he's ready for potty-training. You'd think he would want to tell me when he's dirty or wet like the other two do. But he's got to be independent and controlling. He'll do it on his terms. So today he was hiding in the Kangaroo climber and I didn't see he was naked. I was in the middle of changing Brooke's messy diaper and used all the wipes. Before I could get Brooke's diaper on, John pops up and runs into the living room where I notice he's naked, hanging onto his penis, and has excrement on his bum. So I grab him leaving Brooke without a diaper on the changing table. With my death grip on him I grab more wipes out of the closet and wipe him up. I diaper him standing because he's the more likely of the two to pee. Then I diaper Brooke up and start looking for traces of John. He was smart enough to put his diaper on the changing table. And it looked and smelled like he didn't get any "stuff" in the kangaroo climber. I guess I'll have to start duct taping his diaper during the day too.

I put Jacob's Uppercase living stuff up on his wall. I'll have to take a picture of it as it turned out really nice. I put a fish scene above his headboard. There are fish hiding in the weeds with a turtle and his name above the weeds. And then above his closet door I have, "Fish tales told here" which is very appropriate for Jacob.

Happy anniversary to Scott and I. It was 9 years ago yesterday. One of the best days of my life because I married a pretty nice guy. We compliment each other in the way that we are different from each others personalities, but still have the same common goals. I still like him and I think he still likes me. And we've got four beautiful healthy children, a house, debt, a couple of vehicles, a boat and a really nice backyard. I mean really really nice.

Practice makes perfect

I caught the monkeys dumping their cookies in water. Hooligans.

I've been trying to get a picture of Jacob's cute little freckles. As you can see, they have multipled a lot. This may just be almost Dave Jackson quality. Well, I can always hope.
And luckily he got the Callaway nose.

I love Crayola

Today I let the kids play with that Crayola magic wonder markers (the kind that only make marks on that special paper) and while I was getting that out, the babies found more colored pencils and markers.

Matthew sat for quite awhile coloring? marking? scribbling on a notebook. At least today he didn't color on himself.


Brooke loved coloring with the magic wonder markers and spent much of the day doing that until I brought home some more Magic Fusion clay stuff that crayola makes. Then she made "balls" with her clay.

John was very shy and didn't want his picture taken. So he just peeked out of all the holes in the Kangaroo climber. He can be so darn cute that I just want to keep him.

Today, Jacob's kindergarten teacher came by to visit. They do regular home visits to make sure we have books, electricity, working water, etc...
Jacob was more interested in playing with cars and building tracks. He did talk with his teacher for a little while. I'm hoping he really likes school this year. Last year he never wanted to go. I just found out there will be seven boys and maybe eight girls in his class. Three total will only be going for 1/2 days and one girl is going 1/2 days with the option of going 1 to 2 full days.

I've been busy sewing and making stuff to sell for our FVMOM annual fall rummage sale. Until then, I post the stuff on the website to sell. I was pretty proud of my Hello Kitty that I made. Not sure why the picture is turned. Just tilt your head a little and you can see it just fine.

B4 dental work

You know how some things are just a typical day for someone, but very untypical for everyone else. Probably would be stressful or surreal?

Today I took the munchkins to Sam's club. We were out of Fruit Snacks. That's a big deal here in the Callaway household. We get the Welch's Fruit Snacks that come in three flavors. 24 to a pack and they are usually gone within 10 days or less.

I got the kids a soft pretzel to eat while I was eating my first dinner. This was their second dinner of the day. The first was turkey, cheese in a soft shell rolled up and heated. They didn't care for it - much. It made a better Frisbee than meal apparently.

So I'm feeding them pieces of this pretzel and John wants out of the cart. He always wants out of the cart now. He'll whine and get up or wiggle. Well, I had all three of them sitting in the big part of the cart just feeding them. He kept putting his leg over the side and I kept telling him to sit and pushing the leg in. So finally he just starts the whining/crying thing that I have become immune to. I look up from my meal and notice that there are a few tables that are giving me that look. You know, the look that says, "Hey you? Don't you hear your son crying because we do and we can't eat!"

So I pack up and leave with John still whining. As I leave I say out loud, "Now you can eat in peace." And I'm sure there were a few sighs of relief.

Next thing, after their nap, I let them draw with pens on paper. I walk out of the room because we had company and come back maybe 30 seconds later and Brooke and Matthew (or maybe Brooke drew on Matthew) all over their legs. They just had swim diapers on so they had full access to their legs.

So we go in the backyard to swim and they haven't had their snacks/supper yet. (In Wisconsin supper is dinner and dinner is lunch) (and my mom calls a sofa or couch a davenport) So I cut up some salami, bring it to them, put it on their picnic table and walk inside. I get their mandarin oranges ready, which probably took 1 minute and walk out. At this time the plate and salami had taken a dive in the pool.

So, the pool had to be cleaned out.

The pool got cleaned out and refilled and then the babies got their bath because they had pen on their legs.

And tonight I took my parents to play Bingo at Oneida Casino. We used to go more often, but now with kids its hard to get away. I like to go with my parents because its a nice chance to talk with them and it also gives them a chance to work on their memory recollection and gross motor skills because they are old. (I told them this, so this isn't news to them, hopefully they will remember because then the memory recollection part really has paid off)

We didn't win. But I was fascinated in an sick and twisted way by a woman two tables up who had no upper front teeth. Her lips were concave and curved inward while her chin jutted out. She was probably 40. Now, I have to admit that this really, really disgusts me. I realize that some people can't afford dental insurance, or dental work, or maybe have special reasons for having the upper front teeth missing, but its really so trailer park. (Now before anyone says I'm judgemental or discriminating - I know I'm both. But I have a relative who didn't go to the dentist and lost a bunch of her teeth and she happened to live in a trailer. So I'm speaking from experience.)
If I were her, I'd stop playing bingo for a whole year and save up for teeth. But I guess everyone has their own priorities. This really gives new meaning to flossing and brushing.

This ain't a picnic in the park

My brother in law picked this up for FREE for us and the kids have been fighting over it since. Jacob was really helpful in giving them rides. He also sets up an obstacle course at the end of the driveway so that people can't get in and the babies can't get out. Well, this lasted for the first time and now they just jump over the cones. Its the thought that counts though, right?

We spent most of the night outside playing, eating, messing stuff up and waiting for Scott to come home from work. But at last, we had to take the walk around the circle by ourselves. Jacob rode the tractor and then he got off of it and pulled it all the way home.


Its rare that I get all my kids sitting by each other and not crying or sitting on another, so enjoy this picture. They were patiently waiting for me to feed them crackers that Luann had brought over. They were really hungry and ate 1/2 the box. Jacob didn't finish his meal so I he couldn't have any until he went inside to finish his Chicken Pot Pie. My chicken pot pie is to die for and everyone else likes it, but he hems and haws and is such a sissy about eating it. Its butter, vegetables and pie crust. Who doesn't like stuff with butter?

Since we went to Oshkosh to look at the airplane show. The kids have really noticed the airplanes flying by. The picture below is of the kids yelling, no screaming, AIRPLANE! over and over again. Its actually kind of cute when I'm not standing right next to them.

Not sure how they could see the airplane from sitting inside the garage, but I know they heard it. Brooke actually had the sense to get off her duff and go outside and look for the thing.

Jacob wanted me to take pictures of him sitting on the boat. He posed for me, which of course were all silly. He, daddy and grandpa callaway are going fishing again tomorrow on Lake Michigan. May they catch 3 fish.


So, the kids were really digging the crackers and I was holding the box and they were only taking one or two at a time. Great.
I put the box down to put the stroller back together and below is a picture of what I found. They had emptied the box in the back of the van (where the stroller was) and were stomping/grinding it into a floor. Resale on mini-vans should be at an all-time low with how messy kids are. I'll alert everyone when I buy a new van so you don't buy my old one. I think I probably have 10 lbs of ground up food in crevices and nuks that I cannot get at.

This post took me over an hour to do because both computers were not working. The laptop I couldn't get a network connection no matter what I did. The main computer was as slow as snail. Its really frustrating when I want to get something done and nothing is working. So while I kept rebooting, I did do the dishes, or at least put them in the dishwasher. Less work for me to do in the morning then.